To the Church in Laodicea
14"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
Dig Deeper
In the early years of the Civil War, the Union Commander of the Army of the Potomac was George B. McCllelan. McCllelan had a great reputation as a General who could organize and prepare an army, but he also had a massive ego. Despite his wonderful reputation and his own high level of self-admiration, there was perhaps no other General in the entire war that drove President Abraham Lincoln as nuts as McCllelan did. McCllelan had a huge army that was well trained and well equipped to go to war, but he never seemed to want to actually fight. He would constantly make excuses and find many reasons why he wouldn’t take action. In one famous expression of his boiling frustration with McCllelan’s complete lack of any kind of action, Lincoln sent him a note wondering if McCllelan wasn’t going to use the army at his disposal, could Lincoln borrow it for a while.
There are few things more frustrating than someone who has the ability and resources to act but seems completely uninterested in doing anything. This was the situation in Laodicea. They were a church that was in a wealthy and important region and certainly had the resources to do great things for the Kingdom of God. Rather than doing anything, though, they seemed quite content with a good reputation and the self-deception that they were a fine and effective church. Christ’s warning to them about this attitude of malaise is quite clear. Just thinking they were fine didn’t do them any good if they weren’t actually demonstrating their faith by doing the will of God and the work of His Kingdom.
3:14 - Laodicea was not only the wealthiest city in the region, it was also another important center of emperor worship. In the opening verse, Christ identifies Himself in three ways. First, He is the Amen. The generic meaning of "amen" is "so be it," but the theological meaning is deeper than that. It was actually an oath that called down the blessings and curses of the covenant and was a reminder that Jesus is the perfect guarantee of the covenantal promises. Second, He is the faithful and true witness. Christ is truly the infallible and authoritative witness that brings convincing charges against the church in Laodicea. Third, He is the ruler of God’s creation. Christ is both the origin and the ruler of God’s creation. By him all things were created and He holds all things together (Colossians 1:15-18).
3:15-16 - The words, you are neither cold nor hot, has often been misunderstood. It has often been preached that hot refers to a godly enthusiasm while cold referred to an ungodly malaise. This metaphor, however comes from the geography of the area. Laodicea was situated between Colossae, which was famous for ice-cold, refreshing mountain streams, and Hieropolis, which was well-known for its hot mineral springs that were believed to have healing powers. By the time the water reached the valley floor in Laodicea, it was neither hot (for health) or cold (for refreshment). The basic problem with Laodicea is not that they were not "hot" but that in their current state, they were not good for anything. They were not providing warm healing for the spiritually sick or cold refreshment for the weary. The church was being rebuked not for the condition of their spiritual temperature but for the lack of works. Christ is wishing that the Laodicean church would have an influence on their society. A church that is self-focused is not doing anyone any good. If a church is not transforming its society and increasing Christ’s dominion, what good is it? Because you are lukewarm . . . I am about to spit you out of my mouth. This echoes the warnings of Leviticus 18:24-28. Failure to transform or make any significant impression on the world has put the church in danger of being cut off and spit out.
3:17-18 - Laodicea was well-known for its banking and financial institutions, its textile industry which produced a world-famous black wool, and an eye salve called "Phyrgian Powder". Christ uses these things for which the city was famous to demonstrate the state of the church. They thought that they were rich and had acquired wealth but despite the wealth of the church they were completely ineffectual in effecting the culture around them. In contrast, a poor church like Smyrna was having a deep impact on the culture around them. Rather than clothing the world and providing a salve for the eyes, as Laodicea was famous for, the church was wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. Despite all of this, comes on offer of grace from Christ. Christ counsels the church to buy gold, which symbolizes true faith and genuine work of obedience (1 Pet. 1:7; 1 Cor. 3:12-15). Wearing white clothes is a symbol of righteousness, while nakedness is a symbol of disobedience (Gen. 3:7). Blindness is a symbol for man’s fallenness and separation from God, as well as a an inability to understand spiritual truth (Lev. 21:18; Deut. 29:4; Matt. 13:13-15; 16:3; 2 Cor. 4:3-4; 1 John 2:11).
3:19-20 - Christ reminds them that He only disciplines and rebukes those whom He loves. His love for the church is actually the source of His anger, so He calls them to repent. He stands at the door, waiting for them to open the door and come in and eat him. This is not a wide open invitation for salvation to non-Christians, rather it is a clear invitation for the church to return to the communion table with a repentant heart.
3:21-22 - To the one who overcomes, Christ promises dominion with Him and the right to sit on His throne. The call to rule with Christ is for all Christians in time and on earth. The dominion is progressive through history until the final consummation of all things. We are to be rulers with Christ now, in this age. He has given us legal title to all things (Rom. 8:32; 1 Cor. 3:21-22) and we are to exercise dominion under His rule in every area of life. Because Christ overcame and is sitting with the Father on His Throne, He summons us to share in His dominion and inherit all things.
Devotional Thought
The whole imagery of Christ returning to the communion meal with the repentant church stresses the importance of communion in the Christian community. How important do you understand communion to be? Spend some time meditating on the meaning and importance of communion this week. Get a refreshed perspective of the importance of communion.
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